A Picture is Worth a Thousand Laughs
by Ilovetoread09
Summary: Kate is having a bad day at work and Castle finds a way to cheer her up. One-shot


AN: This is just a silly one-shot I came up with. Thanks to Ky for betaing this for me and putting up with all of my questions.

For Louise, you are a great friend and always manage to find a way to brighten someone's day. Happy Belated Birthday, Girl!

Disclaimer: I don't own Castle.

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Kate sat at her desk and sighed, drumming her fingers against the wood. The team had wrapped up another case earlier that day, but not without some issues. Their main suspect-the caretaker of the elderly victim-had refused to cooperate and they'd spent almost three hours interrogating him until he'd finally cracked under the pressure.

Unfortunately for her, he didn't go quietly.

He had kicked Kate in the leg as she had tried to detain him, and in retaliation, she had swiftly slammed him up against the wall of the room before putting on the cuffs, and placing the idiot into holding. From experience, she knew there would soon be a large bruise on her leg; it was already starting to hurt a little when she moved the ligament.

Her irritability from the incident was not helped by the fact that she has a mountain of paperwork to catch up on, something that would no doubt take until early evening to complete, and the espresso machine malfunctioned twice, so Kate was unable to get her usual caffeine fix. _And to_ top it all off, her partner was not there.

Rick was at home attempting to write a few chapters of the next Nikki Heat book. Gina had been badgering him to get some work done and Kate insisted he do as his publisher said, especially since she was growing tired of the constant phone calls from Castle's ex.

Kate mentally berated herself. She was starting to regret telling Castle to stay home. She wanted him there, at least he would be able to keep her company and maybe even put a smile on her face. The brunette almost rolled her eyes, but stopped herself. She could no longer deny that his presence had the ability to brighten her day considerably; he'd been able to do that for a while now.

Kate reached for the manila envelope; started to put away the most recent file but in the process of looking it over, she noticed a few blank spaces that she had forgotten to fill in. Probably due to the lack of coffee, no doubt.

Dropping the file, she gripped the edge of her desk in frustration, her fingernails scratching the wood. She took a deep, calming breath, trying to keep herself from groaning or even yelling in exasperation Just as she got herself under control, her phone rang. Not bothering to check the caller ID, she answered,

"Beckett." Her tone was filled with annoyance and her greeting came out almost like a growl.

"Woah," the familiar voice on the other end replied. "Everything okay?"

Kate closed her eyes and sighed. "Sorry, Castle. I'm just really frustrated right now."

"I can help you with that, want me to drop by in an hour?" he teased.

Kate frowned, not in the mood for his jokes.

"No."

"Yikes," Castle muttered, probably more to himself than to her. "That bad?"

"The day's just been rough, that's all." Kate sighed, correcting the errors on her paperwork.

"Well, when you get home, dinner will be cooked and your favorite wine poured. A bubble bath might even be thrown in there." Kate smiled at his words. Castle was always thoughtful when it came to her.

"That sounds nice," she hummed, closing her eyes. She imagined herself in Castle's porcelain bathtub, surrounded by warm bubbles and her fiancé's arms tightly wrapped around her.

"I'll see you tonight then," he chuckled.

"Bye," she replied, before ending the call. Kate smiled, her mood improved. However, the moment she looked at the pile of work waiting for her, the scowl was back.

She was about to start on the next file, when she noticed a message from Castle in her inbox. Clicking on the e-mail, her eyebrows furrowed in confusion at the image in front of her until she realized what it was; Kate's face broke out into a smile, and she stifled a giggle. She discreetly looked around to make sure no one was watching. Seeing the coast was clear, she clicked on the image.

The picture showed two adorable balls of fur; one white, the other black. The black one had its paw wrapped around the white one, as if it were hugging its companion. The text on top read: _Tackle Hug_ in white, block font, and Kate grinned, shaking her head. It was a little childish, but it was also so very Castle.

While paying attention to the adorable cats, she noticed several more messages as they popped into her inbox. Viewing each of them in turn, Kate's chuckle only increased. Each picture was along the same lines as the first one, just with different cats and sayings.

Some were comforting, while others were just hilarious.

Kate decided her favorite was the one that had a Christmas theme. The picture showed the cat getting ready to destroy all the ornaments. There was something in its eyes that had her looking twice; wondering about what exactly had caused that crazed look Nevertheless, it elicited a small, quiet laugh from her. Soon enough, Kate found the frustration and tension leaving her body. Even when he wasn't by her side, her partner still had that effect on her.

Smiling, she took out her phone and texted Castle.

_Thanks._ She simply wrote; her phone dinging a second later and she quickly glanced at the reply.

_Anytime. ;) I'll see you tonight._

Her grin spread quickly across her face, the happiness that he brought to her long day evident for all to see, and she returned to her paperwork, looking forward to the impending evening at home.

* * *

AN: There you have it. Once again, thanks to Ky for the beta. Also, hope you had a great birthday, Louise.


End file.
